Middle finger will not bend to palm

[football_guy]

I play football a great deal and often jam my fingers. Recently, while playing, I experienced a collision that "jammed" my middle finger on my left hand. I experienced a good deal of swelling and stiffness in that finger (similar to when I have jammed it in the past).

I assumed it was simply a jam and that the swelling would go away in time. It has now been over a month and there is still a little pain/swelling near the center of the finger... but most of the pain is gone. The strange thing is that I cannot bend my finger all the way to my palm now. When I try, it stiffens when it reaches a near-perfect right angle in all of its joints. I cannot even force it down with my other hand. It does not hurt much when I try to force it, it just feels like it is stuck and refuses to go further.

Is this just an issue of swelling (and will heal with more time) or does it sound like I separated a tendon or something?

Is it too late to take care of it if the latter is the case?

Thank you!

[Michael L Gross, MD]

Could be an injured tendon that is getting caught in the tissues as you try to bend your finger, other possibilities are a fracture, or an injury to the ligaments around the joint.  I recommend seeing a hand specialist as soon as possible.